When Rachel Thompson has a buttery, she goes all in.
And her French-style luxury recipe may come as a surprise when you consider what line of work the Aberdonian is in.
Rachel, 50, reveals all in our ongoing feature, which this week considers the benefits of treating yourself once in a while.
Rachel, hi. Welcome to Me and My Buttery. So, tell me: How do you eat yours?
My way is to have it with bacon, a bit of brie and some cranberry sauce. It is delicious.
That sounds impressive. What’s your recipe?
Well, you slice the buttery in half, through the middle so it’s like a bun. Then you cook the bacon and pop that on top along with the brie. Dollop the cranberry sauce along the bottom of the rowie and put the top half on top so you have a sandwich.
Then you compress it and either grill it or heat it up to make the cheese a bit more melty. And then you cut it in half. Or if you’re nice, cut it into quarters eat it dainty-like (laughs).
Where did you get the idea from?
It’s one of my favourite ways of eating croissants.
But with the rowie there is that little bit more salt, and you get more of a crunch as well.
Some might argue there’s a lot of calories in this. Do you eat it a lot?
I actually work for the Health Improvement Team for Aberdeen City, so obviously I automatically think about healthy eating.
But life is about balance, so the rowie is a special occasion, maybe on Christmas morning. Not every weekend.
So, it’s a treat?
Yes, but only occasionally.
When I was growing up, you got a sweetie or a piece of tablet once or twice a week. But people have lost the sense of what a treat is, which is maybe why we have a bit of an obesity problem.
How are butteries viewed by those in public health? Not great, I’m guessing.
I would say there’s no such thing as bad food. It’s the quantity that’s the problem.
Having said that, if you were to go to a nutritionist or a dietitian, they would probably squirm at the fat and salt content in a rowie.
If you have an unusual or interesting way to eat your buttery, we’d love to hear about it.
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